The invention generally relates to a rotary combustion engine of the type disclosed in prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,988,065 and is more particularly directed to such an engine designed for operation as a stratified charge engine having two separate fuel injection nozzles for discharging fuel into the engine working chambers. Prior stratified charge rotary combustion engines having dual fuel injection nozzles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,364 and in co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 424,056 filed Dec. 12, 1973, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,518 granted to Gavrun et al. on July 15, 1975.
Such rotary combustion engines include a housing or outer body having a trochoidal inner surface and a rotor mounted within the housing and having apex seal portions for sealing cooperation with said trochoidal surface. In the case of prior rotary engines having dual fuel nozzles, the nozzles are separately mounted in the engine housing for discharge through individual recesses in the trochoidal surface into the engine working chambers. Each such trochoidal surface recess is a source of leakage of the engine working fluid from one working chamber to an adjacent chamber across the rotor apex seals as the apex seals move across a fuel nozzle recess. Any such leakage obviously represents a loss in engine efficiency and therefore increases the engine fuel consumption. In addition, the provision of two separately mounted fuel nozzles in the engine housing makes it more difficult to provide adequate and uniform cooling of the engine housing in the vicinity of the nozzles as compared to an engine housing having only one fuel nozzle.